US Lacrosse names DeJuliis (Ultimate Lacrosse) as assistant coach for Women’s U19 team

US Lacrosse today announced the assistant coaches and support staff for the 2015 U.S. Women’s National Under-19 Team. Philly club founder Michele DeJuliis, Bowen Holden and Wendy Kridel have been selected as assistant coaches, while Sarah Aschenbach and Theresa Sherry will assume the roles of manager and assistant manager, respectively.

The staff will work under Kim Simons Tortolani, who was announced in January as the fourth coach in U.S. Women’s Under-19 history. They will lead the team as it competes for a fifth consecutive gold medal at the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Under-19 World Cup, July 23-August 1, 2015, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Assistant Coach Michele DeJuliis is the founder and president of Ultimate (N.J.) Lacrosse Club and served as an assistant coach under Ricky Fried for the U.S. Women’s National Team from 2010-13. The Penn State University graduate (’97) spent 15 years in the U.S. team system, culminating with captaining the 2009 U.S. Women’s National Team to gold in Prague, Czech Republic. Prior to leading Ultimate, DeJuliis was an assistant coach at Princeton University from 2004-12. She was inducted to the US Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in 2008 and the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2013.

Assistant Coach Bowen Holden is the head coach at Lincoln-Sudbury (Mass.) Regional High School, her alma mater, and also was an assistant coach for the World Champion 2013 U.S. Women’s National Team. A former All-American goalie at Georgetown University (’01), Holden was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team Program from 1999-2002. She spent seven seasons as head coach at Boston College (2006-2012), and led the Eagles to the program’s first NCAA tournament bid in 2011. Prior to Boston College, she was the associate head coach at Georgetown from 2002-05.

Assistant Coach Wendy Kridel is in her 17th season as head coach, and ninth as co-head coach, at the Bryn Mawr (Md.) School, where she also works as the school’s athletic director. Kridel led the U.S. U19 team to three consecutive gold medals as head coach in 1999, 2003 and 2007, and also earned a silver medal as assistant coach in 1995. As head coach, she led Team USA to a 20-0 record. The University of Delaware graduate was named to the US Lacrosse Greater Baltimore Chapter Hall of Fame in 2003.

Team Manager Sarah Aschenbach returns to the role she served for the World Champion 2011 U.S. Women’s Under-19 Team. She is in her third year as executive director of the Tewaaraton Foundation and her eighth season as head coach at Connelly School of the Holy Child (Md.) Aschenbach is involved with numerous Washington-area club programs and has spent more than a decade in a leadership role with the US Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament. A graduate of Washington and Lee University (’95), Aschenbach also is a board member of the US Lacrosse Potomac Chapter.

Assistant Team Manager Theresa Sherry currently coaches several club teams in California, including BearLax Club/Tenacity 10, and formerly led the Cal women’s team from 2007-2011. A member of the U.S. Women’s Developmental Team from 2004-05, Sherry was a standout midfielder for Princeton University, where she was named IWLCA National Midfielder of the Year and a Tewaaraton Award finalist in 2004. She starred on the 1999 U.S. Under-19 Women’s Team that won gold in Perth, Australia, earning player of the game honors in the gold medal game.

“We were blessed with the deepest and most talented pool of applicants in the program’s history,” said Nathaniel Badder, US Lacrosse director of national teams. “Each of these individuals is remarkably qualified in her own right, and we are confident that they will fit well together as a group to lead this team to the top of the medal stand next summer.”

Team USA is the reigning U19 World Champion, having defeated Australia in 2011 under head coach Krystin Porcella in Hannover, Germany. The Americans have won the last four titles, defeating the Aussies in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011. Australia won the inaugural title in 1995.

Tryouts for the 2015 U.S. Women’s National Under-19 Team will begin in spring 2014. Additional information on player eligibility, tryout format, and selection process can be found on the U.S. U19 Women’s team homepage.

For more information on the U.S. Women’s National Team, visit uslacrosse.org/teamusa. Follow the team on Facebook at fb.com/uslacrosse, on Twitter and Instagram at @uslacrosse and use #USAWLAX.